Friday, July 14, 2017

Notes From The Vatican

An explosive article written by two close associates of Pope Francis has accused Steve Bannon, the chief White House strategist, of espousing an “apocalyptic geopolitics” whose roots are “not too far apart” from that of Islamist extremism.

The article in La Civiltà Cattolica, which is vetted by the Vatican before publication, lays out a scathing critique of “evangelical fundamentalism” in the US, arguing that, on issues ranging from climate change to “migrants and Muslims”, proponents of the ideology have adopted a twisted reading of scripture and the Old Testament that promotes conflict and war above all else. [...]

“In this Manichaean vision [where the world is divided between good and evil], belligerence can acquire a theological justification and there are pastors who seek a biblical foundation for it, using scriptural texts out of context,” the authors write.

“Rushdoony’s doctrine maintains a theocratic necessity: submit the state to the Bible with a logic that is no different from the one that inspires Islamic fundamentalism. At heart, the narrative of terror shapes the worldviews of jihadists and the new crusaders and is imbibed from wells that are not too far apart,” the authors state. “We must not forget that the theopolitics spread by Isis is based on the same cult of an apocalypse that needs to be brought about as soon as possible.”

[...]

“This is why Francis is carrying forward a systematic counter-narration with respect to the narrative of fear. There is a need to fight against the manipulation of this season of anxiety and fear.”

It also criticizes conservative American Catholics who have aligned themselves with fundamentalist Protestants on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, saying that what really united the groups was a “nostalgic dream of a theocratic type of state”.

Here's an English language version of the original article in La Civiltà Cattolica. Church Militant, an American webiste popular with conservative Catholics, is directly attacked by the authors of the article. Here's the response from Church Militant.

Comments

Excellent article. Encouraging to read after the foul stuff emerging about the things done to German choirboys on Ratzinger's watch. Dare I say it, but at some point "traditionalists" are going to have to ponder the fact that Jesus was viewed as a dangerous radical, someone on the side of riffraff, defender of the oppressed, victims, women, the unclean, castigator of the rich and powerful...

At some point our rich and powerful religious are going to have to realise that in the Gospel drama their role is that of the High Priests, the secular authorities, the persecutors, and NOT that of faithful tho fallible followers of Our Lord.

No more God in a Box (this spiritualising God and faith and saying that it only has to be about prayer and private devotions and anything that influences real life is Godless Communism in disguise...)

Of course, I may be biased, having spent years in South America when young, I have great admiration for the Jesuits and having known many when working with the poor in NYC in youth. I gnash my teeth when sanctimonious old white men intone about being pro-life while cheerfully outsourcing the jobs that would make a middle class life supporting a family possible for less-educated young people, or while savagely sentencing minor drug offenders, or while rationalising police brutality towards minorities, the mentally ill, the poor generally.

Pathetic dead foetuses are tragic, yes. But it is just as tragic when you split up a family by making the parents unemployed and driving one to drink or drugs, and turning the kids into delinquents. It is just as tragic when pablum about liberty allows industries to get waivers from environmental legislation and pollute the air and water so that the poor people who have to live near them (because it's cheaper) get sick and die sooner, and their kids get asthma, have learning issues, etc.

You can't just be pro life for 40 weeks. Being pro-life means caring about all of God's children throughout their lifespan. Cute babies, bratty kids, obnoxious middle schoolers, testing teenagers, young parents, middle aged people, grandparents and lonely old people, all of them are beloved of God and have a claim on us.